Outdoor telecommunications enclosures that contain high-power electronic components require solar radiation protection to prevent excessive heat from accumulating on and within the enclosures. At the same time, it is often necessary to secure the electronic components in the outdoor enclosure to prevent tampering with the electronic components and to protect the electronic components from the outside environment.
Generally, these outdoor enclosures are subject to two forms of heat: heat generated by the electronic components and from the solar radiation mentioned above. In most cases, the high-power electronic components attach to one or more heat sinks. The heat sinks pass the heat energy generated from the components to any outer surface areas of the outdoor enclosure. However, increasing amounts of the internally generated heat energy, in addition to any accumulation of the solar radiation energy on the exterior of the outdoor enclosure, becomes detrimental to the performance of the electronic components within the outdoor enclosure over a period to time.
To date, attempts to mitigate the incremental effect of accumulating solar heat energy by enlarging the enclosure and the solar shield footprint have resulted in additional manufacturing costs for the enclosure. Moreover, enlargement of the solar shield footprint typically increases the weight of the enclosure and further reduces access to the enclosure, depending on the type of solar shielding material used for the solar shields. Thus, there is a need in the art for improvements in solar shields for outdoor electronics enclosures.